With the festival of Holi approaching, different angles are being adopted to hate the Hindu festival. Nirdesh Singh, a female YouTuber, recently uploaded a video discussing the festival of Holi. She can be heard saying in the video that we consider ourselves to be citizens who live in a civilized society, but ask ourselves whether it is appropriate to celebrate by burning a woman alive in a civilized society.
She states in the video, “If our culture celebrates burning women alive, I think it to be wrong. Because we live in a progressive society, we also changed the practice of sati, which in our tradition involved burning women to death in pyres. I am strongly opposed to the tradition of burning a woman in the name of Holika Dahan, whether it be real or imagined, as part of a festival or celebration.”
Nirdesh Singh, who runs a YouTube channel named ‘The Hasti’, declared that she would oppose burning the image of a lady throughout her life, adding that it is also wrong. She also urged anyone who identifies as being a part of the “Progressive Society” to resist it.
Furthermore, Nirdesh Singh stated that if our children witness a woman being burned alive today, they won’t be able to object if their sister or daughter is burned alive in the future. The YouTuber claims that Holika Dahan is repulsive and would not lead to a civilized and progressive society.
होली को जलाना स्त्री विरोधी त्यौहार है।
— Nirdesh Singh (@didinirdeshsing) March 4, 2023
हम यदि प्रगतिशील समाज का अंग हैं। तो इसका विरोध करना चाहिए
जब सती प्रथा बंद हो सकती है तो होलिका दहन भी बंद होना चाहिए।यह समस्त स्त्री जाति का अपमान है।जो किसी भी समाज के लिये घातक है। pic.twitter.com/m2jckBiTUc
Notably, Holika wanted to burn her nephew Prahlad when she sat in the fire. Yet, she died in the fire while Vishnu-Bhakt Prahlad survived the fire. While some people questioned the YouTuber why they should support the person planning to burn an innocent person alive, others advised the YouTuber to read the story of Bhakt Prahlad and Holika Dahan before making baseless claims and calling the Hindu festival regressive.
Holi is a two-day festival, with Holika Dahan on the first day and the day of colorful celebrations-Holi on the second. The effigy of Holika is burned to commemorate Holika Dahan. The significance of this tradition of Holika Dahan has its origins in a Puranic tale. Hindu scriptures lay great emphasis on Karma and Karmaphal-the result of the deeds we do. Thus, if a demon (Holika) plots to kill an innocent child (Prahlad) merely for his devotion towards God, and ends up getting burnt in the fire she lit for Prahlad, it is not ‘regressive’ or anti-woman as claimed by the YouTuber in her video.
